by Jack Patton
“This is Max, our military adviser. Show him what you’re armed with. The rest of you, stand back!”
Everyone scurried out of the way.
The little beetle stood stock still, concentrating hard. Suddenly—FATOOM. An amazing blast of scalding steam shot out of his bottom.
Max coughed and waved a hand in front of his face. The vapor had reached his eyes, and it stung!
“Boiling acid!” Barton said. “Just let the reptiles get some of that in their faces, and they’ll be sorry!”
Wow! Max thought. “What are the spiders?”
“Ah. Those are the golden orb weavers. Splendid, all of them. Build some of the stickiest webs you could wish for.”
Max filed the name away in his memory. Golden orb weaver. The name seemed rare and special, like the spider itself.
“Hey!” came a call from behind him. “Max! How are you doing, short stuff?” It was Spike, the emperor scorpion, waving his pincers happily.
“Max was just finishing his troop inspection,” said Barton coolly.
“Yes, sir,” Spike said, sounding embarrassed. “Sorry, sir. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Good to see you, too, Spike!” Max said. He bumped his fist against Spike’s outstretched pincer. “Commander Barton? Since Spike and I made such a good team …”
“You’d like to work together again,” Barton finished. “Of course. Spike, give Max a tour of the camp. Then get started on the spy problem. I want results!”
“Yes, sir!” they chorused.
“Dismissed!” bellowed Barton.
The organized ranks of bugs dissolved into a scuttling mass as they all clambered over one another, hurrying off to their assigned tasks.
Spike showed Max around the new and improved Battle Bug camp and the wall that surrounded it. “We got the termites to build most of it, since they’re good at that sort of thing. They’re not really soldiers like us, they’re builders … Hey! Watch where you’re going!”
“Sorry,” grumbled a short, fat termite as it dodged between Spike’s legs.
“Sentry towers are here and here,” Spike explained, pointing. “Emergency food stores here … spider burrows here … this is where we’ll set up the web walls if they try sending flying lizards at us.”
“It’s impressive,” Max said. “It would be a shame if you had to abandon it and start again.”
Spike jabbed his stinger at the huge triangular shadow blocking out half of the sky. “See Fang Mountain up there? Nothing but a spider could climb up those steep sides. We were counting on it to block the reptiles.” He shook his head. “But they’re still coming. I don’t know how.”
Max sat down on a white, domed object, which proved to be half a reptile egg that one of the bugs had brought back as a trophy. “Barton said they sent spies over.”
“I’ve seen them! Vine snakes, mostly!”
Max racked his brains. “We have to figure out how they’re coming in! If they’ve found a secret entrance, then the whole island is under threat. They could bring their entire army here and we’d never know …” He leapt to his feet. “I’ve got an idea.”
Spike scuttled back and forth on all his legs, excited. “Yeah?”
“Maybe if we could catch a spy in the act, we could persuade it to talk!”
“That’s brilliant,” Spike said. “Make ’em tell us! But … uh … how would we catch ’em in the first place?”
“I know just who to ask. Come on! Let’s go and find Webster.”
Max hopped onto Spike’s back, and they rode out of the main fortress gate, where two fire ants saluted them. Max knew Webster liked to lurk around the edge of forest clearings, so he rode Spike up to the tree line and searched for any telltale trapdoors Webster might have made.
Ten minutes later, he was getting worried. “Where is he? It’s not like him to—WHOA!”
Webster was suddenly there in front of them, popping out of the ground like a jack-in-the-box. “M-M-Max! Hello!” he whispered.
“Hi Webster! You scared me!”
“Oh! I’m sorry!” Timidly, Webster began to creep back under his mat-like trapdoor of soil and plant debris. It always amazed Max that a spider who looked so scary could be so shy and quiet. It must’ve come from spending so long underground by himself in his tiny burrow.
“No, wait. It’s good to see you! I need your help.”
Webster hesitated.
Max patiently explained the situation. Webster had been really helpful the last time he was on Bug Island, and Max hoped he would be again. “I need you to make a trip wire,” he said. “One long piece of silk running all around the camp, from tree to tree. Can you do that?”
“I think so,” Webster said, wiggling his spinnerets.
“Good. Stick acorn shells halfway across each section.”
“I don’t get it,” Spike moaned. “One little bit of spider silk isn’t going to stop anyone.”
Max grinned. “It’s an early warning system! If any of the reptile spies try to get in, they’ll touch the silk thread and the acorn shell will rattle. Then we’ll know where they are.”
Spike cheered. “We’re going to beat the spies at their own sneaky game!”
Max and Spike lay in wait, watching the acorn shells for the slightest sign of a tremor. From this distance, Webster’s silk trip wire was almost invisible. A reptile spy wouldn’t be able to see a thing.
“This dugout’s a perfect hiding place,” Max whispered to Spike, giving him a pat on his armored body. “I don’t know how you dug it so fast.”
“We emperor scorpions are pretty good diggers,” Spike explained modestly. “We burrow for our food. Are you sure this is deep enough? I can burrow some more if you want.”
“It’s fine. Sshh!”
It was a bit like being in a trench from one of the old wars he’d read about, Max thought. The waiting was driving him crazy. The sun caught the silk wire for a second and it gleamed like a silver cable. Webster had carefully spun it just above the ground, which would alert them to any reptile intruder. Even a vine snake would have to drop down to ground level to approach the camp, because there was no tree cover in the clearing.
“This is fun,” said Spike loudly, and Max had to hush him again.
It was exciting, he had to admit. But it wasn’t quite the camping trip Max had expected when he and his parents set off that morning!
The excitement didn’t last, however. Time passed slowly. Spike started humming and clicking his pincers. Nothing disturbed the trip wire. There were no shouts or alarm buzzes from the camp.
Max had the gloomy thought that a hidden reptile spy might have seen Webster setting the trip wire. They might be laughing at him and his clever plan right now.
At least it’s nice and sunny, he thought.
In the next moment, thunder boomed in the distance. The sky darkened and began to cloud over. Max rolled his eyes. That’ll teach me!
Minutes later, the rain began to fall. When you were this small, rain wasn’t just annoying, it was downright dangerous. Raindrops fell like big boulders of water, bursting like hand grenades. When a drop came down next to Max, it drenched him as if a bucket of water had been flung over him. Miserably, he wrung out his sleeves.
Spike helpfully picked up a leaf and held it over their heads like an umbrella. The falling water boomed and splashed like kettledrums.
“This plan isn’t very fun anymore,” Spike grumbled.
“You said it,” agreed Max.
He decided to tell Spike to pack up and head back to the camp. The reptiles had most likely returned to Reptile Island and were sheltering from the rain, while the bugs got caught in the downpour.
“Come on. We might as well …”
He stopped.
The nearest acorn shell was twitching. Then it fell to the ground.
Something had broken the wire!
“Spike!” he whispered, pointing.
“I see it. Something’s breaking into the camp.�
��
“Let’s go. Stay low.”
Max and Spike crept stealthily across the forest floor in the direction of the broken silk. Spike kept his stinger lowered, so as not to be seen.
They soon reached the exact place where the silk had snapped. Max was alert, looking all around for the slightest sign of a vine snake or crawling lizard. But he saw nothing.
“There’s no one here,” Spike said, sounding baffled.
“Just because we can’t see anything doesn’t mean there’s no one here,” Max reminded him. “The reptiles are sneaky, remember.”
Max nudged Spike back toward the bug camp. They moved in, very slowly. If I were a reptile spy, Max thought, this is where I’d go.
“There!” Spike hissed.
Max squinted. “I can’t see anything.”
“By the edge of that rock, see?”
Max narrowed his eyes. Then he saw them: two lizards, scrambling up from the leafy forest floor onto the rock that Spike had mentioned. They had eyes like armored turrets, which swiveled around in their heads and pointed in different directions. What perfect spies they must make, Max thought.
His mouth fell open as he watched. The lizards had been brownish-green, almost impossible to see among the fallen leaves and moss. But as they climbed on to the gray rock, their skins changed color until they were as gray as the rock itself.
Soon they looked just like bumpy bulges on the rock surface. If they hadn’t climbed onto the rock, Max might never have seen them at all. He could barely make them out now.
“Chameleons,” he said. “I’ve heard of them. They usually change their color to match how they’re feeling. These two must be doing it on purpose to hide.”
“No wonder General Komodo sent them!” Spike said angrily. “Talk about stealthy. At least you can see a vine snake when it falls out of its tree. How can you spot a lizard that changes color?”
“Let’s get closer. We need to hear what they’re planning.”
The rain was falling heavily now, lashing down all around them. Max was soaked to the skin. Thunder rumbled and boomed so often that it hid the sound of Spike trampling through the leaves. At least the chameleons wouldn’t hear them sneaking up behind.
They came close enough to hear the two lizards talking in quiet, slithery voices.
“Ssso, Dagger, the main gate is defended by fire antsss, is it? What are those brown beetlesss?”
“I do not know them, Cloak. They are new. Where are the spidersss?”
“Hiding, no doubt. They are cowardsss who lurk while others fight …”
Max leaned in close to Spike’s armor-plated head. “They’re scoping out our defenses!” he whispered.
Cloak and Dagger sat and looked over the camp for a while, swiveling their eyes around like surveillance cameras. The rain was coming down even harder now, battering the camp, sending bugs scurrying to find shelter. Max was glad for the heavy rain, though; it would be making it harder for the chameleons to snoop.
“The bugs suspect nothing,” Dagger hissed. “General Komodo will be most pleased.”
Max knew that name all too well. Komodo, the fearsome leader of the reptile forces, was a monitor lizard. He towered over his troops, as ravenous as he was cruel.
“When he hears how ill-prepared the bugs are, he will decide to lead the attack personally!” gloated Cloak.
Max strained to hear what they were saying. He just caught the words “… ready for a noon raid …” before a tremendous clap of thunder drowned out the chameleon’s words.
Dagger said something about “mountain lizards” and “collared lizards,” but again, thunder crashed overhead. The chameleons chuckled hoarsely, gloating over the bugs they would catch unawares.
“I’ve heard enough,” Spike said, grinding his pincers in anger. “Let’s go to Barton right now!”
“Not yet!” Max whispered urgently. “We need to find out where they’re coming from, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. Maybe we can ambush them before they get to us.”
Max expected the chameleon spies to go back the way they’d come, but, to his surprise, they didn’t. Instead, they headed off toward the edge of the clearing and made their way into the forest in the direction of Fang Mountain.
Max rode after them on Spike, keeping his distance so they wouldn’t be seen. Heading for Fang Mountain didn’t make sense at all. There was no way General Komodo could lead an army over the mountain range. Maybe the chameleons had seen him and Spike and were now leading them into a trap? Any moment now, a dozen vine snakes might drop out of the trees.
But there was no ambush. The chameleons kept going all the way to the foot of Fang Mountain. The sky overhead was now the gray-black shade of a burnt camping pot, and the peals of thunder were louder than ever.
There were no more trees here. A sheer cliff face loomed over them. The rock was streaming wet with rain. Max was baffled. Even chameleons couldn’t climb up a surface like that.
He peered through the curtain of falling water. And then he saw it, what the chameleons were heading toward—a jagged crack part way up the rock wall, as if a huge pick had swung down and split it. The lizards wriggled through and disappeared.
“Can you get us in there?” Max asked Spike.
“No problem!”
Spike climbed a little pile of rocks and edged his way into the crack.
“Wow,” Max said, as he saw what was on the other side. “That explains everything. Looks like Fang Mountain wasn’t as protective as everyone thought.”
The crack in the rock wall opened onto a thin, twisting mountain pass. On both sides, rocky cliffs rose up, looking crumbly and loose. The chameleons were already scrambling around a distant turn and vanishing out of sight.
“Hurry! After them!”
Spike did his best to follow, but it was no good. He didn’t know the safe places to walk, and several times the wet ground kept sliding away underneath him in a rattling cascade. It was getting hard to see anything at all in this storm.
Spike was halfway up a steep, rocky pathway, when a bright blue flash lit up the sky. A snaking trail of lightning ripped into the mountain wall. Earth and rocks, torn loose by the blast, showered down on them.
Max froze in horror as a boulder came tumbling toward his head!
“Landslide!” Max yelled. Spike lurched forward, and the boulder whammed down right where Max’s head had been.
Pebbles and chunks of rock rained down on them. Spike barely seemed to notice. “The little rocks don’t hurt,” he shouted back. “They just bounce off your body plating.”
“I don’t HAVE any body plating! I’m human, remember?”
“Oh, yeah! Sorry, I forgot!” Spike picked up speed and raced toward the valley opening.
A huge muddy clump came loose from high above and tumbled down. Max glanced up and yelled for Spike to swerve sideways. The scorpion banked up the side of the valley like a stunt driver swerving around a tight corner.
Debris showered them as the boulder landed just behind them. It could have squashed Spike flat, body armor or no body armor.
“It’s getting worse,” Max shouted. “The cliff walls are crumbling.”
They dashed down the valley through the pounding rain, dodging out of the way of falling rocks. The hail of pebbles and rock fragments was turning into a full-scale avalanche. The exit from the pass was still a long way off.
With a sickening feeling, Max realized they weren’t going to make it.
Suddenly, Spike spotted a gap in the rock. “A cave!” he bellowed. “Hold on tight. Keep your head down. I’m going in!”
His heart hammering, Max pressed himself down against Spike’s back. The scorpion wrestled his way through the tight opening and into a pitch-black cave. Rocks scraped against Max’s back, nearly pulling him off. He clung to Spike with all his strength.
Behind them, the last scrap of daylight vanished. The cave mouth was buried under falling rocks.
“That was too close.�
�� Max panted.
“We’d better stay in here until the storm passes,” said Spike. “It’s too dangerous out there.”
Max felt the rocks blocking the cave. They were packed tight.
“It doesn’t look like we have much of a choice.”
* * *
They sat in darkness for what felt like hours, listening to the rumble of falling stones and the patter of falling rain. Max ground his teeth. I have to warn Barton, he thought. The attack’s coming tomorrow and they don’t even know!
It was a long time before the storm finally cleared. “I think we can get going now,” Max said. He gave the rocks a push, but they didn’t budge. “Uh, Spike … I think this is a job for you.”
“Coming through!” Spike yelled happily. His great pincers swung forward like bucket cranes. He grasped a rock in each one and heaved. As they gave way, sunlight streamed in through the hole he’d made.
Feeling much better, Max scraped some of the smaller stones away until he was able to pull himself out. His clothes were filthy. When his mom saw, she’d have a fit.
The valley was calm now. Pools of rainwater glittered in the sunlight. The air smelled of freshly dug earth and moist rocks.
Max looked down the pass, thinking about the reptile army that would soon come swarming through. Then he noticed something strange. The cliff walls had only crumbled away near the bottom. Why hadn’t they given way higher up?
He looked up and found his answer. The roots of trees, along with a tangled array of vines and creepers, had grown over the upper part of the cliffs long ago. They lay like a greenish-brown net, keeping the cliffs from giving way any further.
“See that?” he told Spike. “All that green stuff saved our lives. If that hadn’t been there, we’d have been buried alive!”
“Don’t wanna think about it.” Spike shuddered. “Let’s get back to camp.”
To Max’s dismay, they found the bug camp half collapsed. One of the wall sections was completely gone, along with its bombardier-beetle tower. Legs waved feebly as bugs were dug out of the wreckage.
“Did the reptiles do this?” Max asked a nearby fire ant, who was lugging a leaf five times her size.